Migron Told: Leave Willingly, or Be Homeless

Minister Yaalon tells Migron residents that if they fight eviction, they won’t get housing.<br/>

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Maayana Miskin, 26/08/12 19:51

Leftist leaders tour Migron

Israel news photo: Flash 90

Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon gave residents of Migron a hard choice Sunday: leave their homes willingly, or fight eviction and risk homelessness. Yaalon argued that only families that cooperate with eviction should be allowed to use caravans in the Givat HaYekev site created to replace Migron homes.

Yaalon’s statements were made in a meeting of Likud ministers held just two days before the original deadline for Migron eviction.

He argued that the original deadline should still stand, despite a lawsuit filed by 17 families against eviction. The lawsuit pertains to those families alone, he stated. Therefore, he argued, only those families should be allowed to delay eviction until the High Court issues a verdict.

A source in the legal system who spoke to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity said that Yaalon, like others, is presenting a warped view of the legal reality. “It’s not clear who it was who gave this warped interpretation according to which the families who aren’t among the 17 that filed suit must be evicted already, that’s an interpretation that doesn’t stem from the High Court verdict at all,” he said.

Members of Knesset from the religious-Zionist community were outraged by Yaalon’s ultimatum. “The Likud government’s cruelty to Israelis in Judea and Samaria has crossed new moral red lines,” accused MK Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz (National Union). Nationalist MKs within the Likud “have no influence,” he added.

MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home) noted that Yaalon was among those to support the Regulation Bill, but then did an about-face and led opposition to the bill. “I want to ask him, ‘you expelled – shall you now inherit?’” said Orlev. “Must residents of Migron be thrown from their homes and not get alternative housing?”

“Today it is clear that the Regulation Bill is the only thing that can save the rest of the settlements from expulsion like that in Migron,” Orlev added.